Myrtle Beach Pelicans fall to Frederick Keys in series finale

Myrtle Beach allowed Frederick to bat around twice in the first three innings and the Keys went on to hand the Pelicans another ugly loss at BB&T Coastal Field on Sunday. Myrtle Beach made it a bit more respectable by scoring two late runs, but in the end, the Keys left the Grand Strand with an 8-4 win.

"We don't have the [2008] team where we're gonna hit a lot of home runs," manager Rocket Wheeler said. "We're gonna have to scrap, scrape, claw, you know, to get everything we got."

The small-ball method paid off too little when it came to Sunday. And it didn't help that the Pelicans dug themselves a huge hole early.

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It started when the team committed its first error in four games. With two outs in an already long first inning, shortstop Ryan Barba overthrew first baseman Gerardo Avila one what should have been an inning-ending ground out. Instead, the throw was high, and L.J. Hoes was safe at first.

The next two hitters then connected on RBI singles, putting starting pitcher J.J. Hoover (0-2) in a tough spot. Keys batters continued to put increased pressure on the starter, putting solid wood on seemingly every other pitch.

"We were hoping to get a few more out of him because we were a little bit depleted after that 15-inning game (Saturday)," Wheeler said. "Hoov just didn't have it. He left pitches up in the zone."

All nine Keys (13-10) batters came to the plate in the top of the first; they batted around again in the third. By the time Hoover's day was over after the third, Frederick held an 8-1 lead.

It was sufficient to kill any chances of a comeback, despite the efforts of reliever Yeliar Castro.

The big righty came to the mound in the fourth inning. In the next five frames, he struck out eight batters, gave just two hits and did not allow a runner past second base.

Meanwhile, the Pelicans (7-16) bats never picked up. Between the fourth and sixth innings, Myrtle Beach failed to put a single runner on base. And when Adam Milligan broke up that string with a seventh-inning walk, he was subsequently doubled up on a ground ball by Calvin Culver.

Needless to say, the necessary timely hitting wasn't there on Sunday.

Notes

Myrtle Beach outfielder/first baseman Gerry Rodriguez has been adding some unwanted air conditioning to BB&T Coastal Field. The slugger struck out 15 times in his last five games. He had two each of the three games against Potomac (Tuesday-Thursday), and three times Friday and six Saturday during the Keys' 15-inning victory.

The six fans Saturday set a franchise record. The 15 total in five games didn't exactly have the slugger feeling too confident. Rodriguez spent Sunday on the bench, but expect his big swing back in the lineup today as soon as Tuesday.

"I'm giving him a couple days off because he's struggling a little bit," Wheeler said. "Mentally, just giving him a little break.

"We'll count on Gerry. Gerry's a big plus in this lineup. We're just going to give him a couple days to let him get it back together. At the end of the year, you're gonna look up and he's gonna be hitting .280 with 90 RBI."

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